Flying Tater Tot
by skwirelygurli
Summary: Dez is trying to play Love Whisperer for Austin and Ally. Auslly.


**Flying Tater Tots, an Austin and Ally oneshot**

**I do not own Austin and Ally. Written to fulfill a prompt. Enjoy and review!**

They'd always been friends, but once Ally started tutoring Dez, he's been telling her some things.

Things she probably isn't supposed to know. Things that make her smile. Things that make her question everything, from the accuracy of said statements to what it means when his story checks out.

His story always checks out.

"Guess what," he says, setting his tray on the table.

She sets her sandwich down. "The cafeteria lady gave you extra tater tots?"

He stuffs two in each cheek. The ketchup falls to his lap, but he's too excited to take the time to clean it up. He checks over his shoulder.

"No. She's so stingy with her tots. Austin was writing your name on his math notebook again. It's surrounded by little hearts." He grins. Despite her protests about him playing Love Whisperer, he still loves to gossip with her.

"I highly doubt that," she rebuts, catching his eye in the lunch line. His fingers are drumming of his tray, and he stops for a moment to wink at her.

The exact moment that he steps up to pay.

Now the lunch lady is blushing.

Who had that wink been directed at? She could have sworn it was for her.

Then again, if she was doubting the idea of him daydreaming about her in math class, then it could have been for the lunch lady.

"Then I'll have to prove it to you," Dez says as she peers over his shoulder. Austin is signing what appears to be a napkin. His lunch money is being stuffed back into his pocket.

"Can you believe it? Free lunch." He takes a seat next to him, biting into his hamburger. A few tater tots fall off his tray.

Looks like cafeteria ladies do give out extra tots. You just have to be someone special.

There's a word to describe him.

_(the page breaks here)_

Pencil poised in the air, Dez stares at the worksheet in front of him.

"I just don't get it Ally," he whines. His pencil falls to the ground.

"Do you have your notes with you?" she asks. She'd give him hers, but they're filed away with all her other papers from last year. Now she's in calculus, and while this pre-calc looks familiar, she could use the reassurance.

Which apparently is Austin's notes, because Dez is calling out to him. "Hey buddy, can I borrow your math notes?"

Eyes don't grow that wide unless they're trying to hide something.

His hand makes a grab for his backpack.

"I left my notebook at school," he lies. That's what she assumes anyhow. Why else would he make a move for it if they weren't in there?

Maybe if she leaves something will happen. Boys tell each other secrets.

"Let's take a five minute break. I need to use the bathroom." She hops off the stool. The boys talk about menial things until she's gone.

When they think she's out of earshot, Dez breaks the conversation. She doesn't stick around to hear it. Knowing him, he'll tell her later.

Besides, she does need to use the bathroom.

She needs to make sure this blush doesn't match her shirt.

_(the page breaks here)_

Someone lets off a stink bomb in study hall, so they all pack into the library. She's sharing a table with him.

His notebook gets knocked to the floor.

His math notebook.

It opens to a random page, and there, along with all the sines, she sees a sign. For a whole five seconds before he snatches up the book.

He smiles innocently at her.

"Austin..."

"I really don't understand this chapter. Can I join your tutoring session with Dez tonight?" The words fly out of his mouth without much thought.

Is this his idea of a warm date?

Warm, because she doubts anything hot could happen with a third wheel there. It's not like Trish is going to show up. She's cruise somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean right now.

She would give anything to be on that boat, all this boy trouble behind her. If Dez could keep quiet, she wouldn't be questioning everything she ever thought about him.

'Hey Ally, ever notice how Austin smiles whenever you walk into the room?'

'Did you notice how he was staring at you the entire time you were performing?'

'Austin wants to ask you to the beach concert this weekend.'

All things she hadn't picked up on by herself. Things she would have been better off not knowing. Now when she enters the room she catches his eye, and when he smiles, she smiles back. She has to look away when she's performing, or she'll lose focus, then words, then melody.

She hadn't acted surprised when he gave her his second ticket to the beach concert. Part of her thinks that he wanted her to be. That he wanted to she her eyes pop and her mouth for that 'o' shape, because Dez says that he's wanted to kiss her for a while now.

'He' being Austin. It'd be plain awkward to kiss Dez.

Though with being mentally adjusted to the idea, every time his face nears hers, she backs away. There's that possibility that it might not be awkward, instead some kind of wonderful.

She's not ready to take that plunge.

_(the page breaks here)_

Halfway through the tutoring session, they take a break. He goes to get smoothies, promising to bring one back for her.

"I saw the notebook," she confesses.

"I told you. Did you ask him about it?" He props his head up on his hands. This should be Trish's job, being the gushing best friend. But with her being on vacation, there's no reason why she can't indulge the boy. If not herself, at least somebody should get joy out of her love life.

As long as he doesn't start bringing popcorn.

"No. I didn't want to embarrass him. Besides, I'm sure I'm not the only Ally at Marino. Maybe it's another girl." She can keep level headed about this.

There's nothing level about the way her heart is pounding.

It's bouncing like a rubber dodgeball.

One faulty bounce, and somebody's bound to get hurt. Whether it be her or him, it's not going to be good.

"Nuh-uh. He told me it was you." He crosses his arms indignantly.

"Oh look, Austin's back," Ally says stiffly. Getting off the stool, she gives Dez a look. One that tells him not to go throwing any verbal dodgeballs, because getting them to pass math is far more important than getting the two of them together.

Even if he is the Love Whisperer.

He hands her a smoothie, complete with a yellow bendy straw.

Must he remember everything?

"Blueberry mango for you." He gives another to Dez, with an unbent bendy straw sticking out. "And strawberry for you."

He makes a show of bending his straw. She gets it. He bent her straw for her, and got her favorite color. Big deal.

"Thanks Austin." There's a napkin wrapped around her cup, and he gives her one for her lap.

If he paid as much attention to his math class as he did to her, he wouldn't need this tutoring session.

If he keeps bringing her smoothies, she doesn't really care.

She'd do it without the smoothies too.

_(the page breaks here)_

She can feel the celery between her teeth, the peanut butter on her breath. Yet he smiles, just like Dez predicted, and she smiles back. A closed mouth smile will have to suffice.

"Everything okay?" he asks, because he can tell something is wrong.

She nods. He doesn't believe her.

Corralling her into a hug, Austin rubs her back. She can feel a set of eyes on her, and considering theirs are both closed, she's pretty certain she knows who they belong to.

"Dude, just tell her already."

"Tell me what?" she inquires, as if she doesn't have a clue as to what he's talking about. It's not like he's been hinting at it for the past month and a half.

For those of you who do not understand the concept of sarcasm, please consult your nearest dictionary.

Dez nods, his head bouncing like her heart.

His arms let her go, and he takes a step back, but his words make her feel closer to him than ever before.

"I think I like you as more than a friend."

So what if he hadn't asked her out? He confessed, and quite frankly, (or any man's name followed by a 'ly,' because she cares more about what he said than taking the time to consider saying 'quite bobly' or 'quite georgely' instead) she's waited far too long for this.

She'd kiss him, but she tastes like peanuts, and that darned piece of celery is still stuck.

He doesn't seem to mind.

"Dez, could you find me some dental floss?" Ally asks him. He takes it as a hint to leave the room.

She hopes he does come back with that floss. She really does need it.

The store is quiet for a while, until he decides to state the obvious.

"You taste like peanut butter."

"Well, it's not like I knew I was going to get kissed today."

"I kissed Ally Dawson." A smug smile takes hiss face over. "I like the sound of that."

She has to stop herself from grinning with her teeth and letting that piece of celery show. A simple smile will have to do. And if he has to pull her back into another hug, that's okay too. Her words will be plenty to appease him.

"I do too."

_(the page breaks here)_

Setting her tray down, Trish notices the new dynamic at the table. Austin's sitting in her seat.

More importantly, his hand is wrapped around Ally's.

"I leave for a week, and I miss everything." She takes the free seat.

"I helped," Dez boasts, dipping his tater tots in ketchup. Another tot, one that is not his, flies at his head.

Sheepishly, Austin apologizes. "Sorry. I'm not used to eating with my left hand."

The things he does for her. Actually, this one is fully his choice. He wants to hold her hand.

Next time she's sitting on the left.

No more flying tater tots.

_(the page breaks here)_

She gets offstage, and Dez is the first to approach her.

"You know that Austin was totally checking you out during that last number, right?" They've been together for a week, yet he still loves telling her these things.

Take yesterday for instance.

'He got you a surprise.'

'Then why are you telling me? Shouldn't that be a secret?'

'Oh, right.'

And then before that.

'Austin said he wished he tasted like jelly when you kissed.'

'Why?'

'So you could make an awesome sandwich together. Uh, duh.'

That notion had come in handy. She'd made him toast the next morning, and after a careful testing of the theory (one should always triple check their work) it was determined that he was right.

Maybe Dez is part Love Whisperer. She wouldn't suggest it as a full time job, but he did get the two of them together.

Though if they're being honest, wasn't it bound to happen all along?

"He's her boyfriend. Of course he was checking her out," Trish explains.

"Shut up," he complains, pushing his way through to her.

She kisses him. She does not taste like peanut butter, nor him jelly.

Not that it matters.

She'll do it anyway.

And she'll like it.


End file.
